Bike down embankment leaves rider in hospital

CARMEL, Maine — A local man was flown to a Bangor hospital Thursday for treatment of rib and lung injuries he suffered after losing control of his 1995 Harley-Davidson motorcycle on Cook Road.

After the crash, Andrew Deraspe, 60, was taken by ambulance to a ball field off Five Road, where a LifeFlight helicopter picked him up and took him to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Deraspe, who was admitted to the hospital, was in serious condition Thursday night, a hospital nursing supervisor said.

State police Trooper Brenda Coolen said that the accident occurred shortly before 10 a.m., when Deraspe’s motorcycle left the road and went down an embankment.

Though Deraspe used his cell phone to call 911 for help and was able to provide rescuers his approximate location, he wasn’t easy to find, Coolen said.

“I passed by him at first,” Coolen said, adding that Deraspe and his motorcycle weren’t immediately visible from the road and the bike left no skid marks to follow.

A state police dispatcher, however, kept the injured man on the line and used the phone connection to listen for the siren on Coolen’s cruiser. “At one point, she said, ‘I think you’ve gone by’” because the siren went from loud to soft, Coolen said.

Coolen said it was not yet clear why Deraspe lost control of the motorcycle.

“He doesn’t recall anything prior to the accident,” she said, adding that the man had difficulty speaking because he had broken some ribs and appeared to be suffering from a punctured lung. “He was in a huge amount of pain.”

Coolen also said Deraspe was not wearing a helmet when the accident occurred.